WEEI Host Kirk Minihane Takes 'Indefinite Leave' With Mental Health Issues

BOSTON (CBS) – WEEI sports radio host Kirk Minihane announced that he is taking an "indefinite leave" from the airwaves as he continues to deal with mental health issues.

Minihane was hospitalized in early August after checking himself into the emergency room with suicidal thoughts. He spent four days at McLean Hospital in Belmont before returning to the show a week later.

"I stood in front of my car and I said 'I don't want to do this. I don't want to die,'" Minihane told listeners at the time. "I know I don't want to die, but I also know this thing in my head that keeps talking about this and saying 'examine this, look at this, look at this, and the word suicide, suicide, suicide.' And the fact of how I felt internally, I felt for the past couple weeks that I was having a heart attack almost all the time. I was having a hard time breathing."

On Thursday, Minihane tweeted that he returned to the show too fast after his hospitalization.

Minihane is a co-host of the Kirk and Callahan show on WEEI along with Gerry Callahan.

The National Suicide Prevention Line provides free and confidential support for people in distress. Call them at 1-800-273-8255 or visit their website to chat.

Local Suicide Support:
Samaritans 24-hour Help Line: 877-870-HOPE (4673)
Local (Talk with someone anonymously.)
Samaritans Boston (24-hour Help Line): 617-247-0220
Samaritans Framingham (24-hour Help Line): 508-875-4500
Samaritans of Merrimack Valley: 866-912-4673